Food waste collection

If you cannot compost at home, Merri-bek City Council offers a weekly kerbside collection service for your food and garden waste.

What is the food and garden organics (FOGO) service?

Merri-bek residents can place their food waste into the green lid food and garden organics (FOGO) bin alongside garden matter. This service helps to create compost and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill which would produce large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. This bin is collected weekly.

What kinds of food waste can I put in the FOGO bin?

You can put food scraps such as meat, dairy, citrus, bread, pasta and onion peelings along with leaves, grass clippings, twigs and branches and weeds into your FOGO bin. Please do not place plastic bags or packaging (including compostable and biodegradable) into the FOGO bin as these items are not accepted by our organics processor.

Follow the link below for more information on what items to include and exclude from your FOGO bin.

Why should I put my food waste into the FOGO bin?

This service helps to reduce carbon emissions within the community – over 25% of an average household garbage bin in Merri-bek is filled with food waste which releases greenhouse gas emissions as it breaks down in landfill. By sending food waste to a facility that processes this waste into nutrient-rich compost and other soil conditioners, we are supporting the circular economy and greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced

Who can access the FOGO service?

All Merri-bek residents paying the waste charge can access a FOGO bin. Residents who do not have a FOGO bin can request one through Merri-bek City Council via the page below. Residents can collect a kitchen caddy from one of our customer service centres while stocks last, to store their food scraps prior to emptying them into their FOGO bin.

More information

To find out more, please visit the Merri-bek City Council webpage on Food and Garden Organics.